Simon Louw, from the KhoiSan Community Affairs and Business Forum (KCABF) has painted a gloomy picture of the socioeconomic state of his community in Upington.
Speaking to Political Analysis South Africa on Monday, 30 April 2018, Louw said concerned members of the community came together to form the KCABF in order to become the voice of those who have been marginalised.
He said although the forum is currently based in Upington, it hopes to expand to other areas in the province, including the wider Kalahari, where he says the majority of the KhoiSan community is facing major socioeconomic challenges.
“The uniqueness of the KhoiSan people is that they were the first people in South Africa…we only want to be part of the economy,” he said.
Among some of the challenges faced by the community is the issue of inadequate housing. Louw says because the Dawid Kruiper Municipality has not provided housing for the residents, most people have to build homes that are made from corrugated iron sheets and that are often unsafe to reside in.
“People are living in zinc structures and most people haven’t got money to build proper structures due to unemployment,” he said.
Louw added that because of the high unemployment rate among community members many young women, some from the age of 15, turn to sex work as a way to make ends meet. He said that other issues such has the high consumption of drugs and alcohol continue to plague the community well into 24 years of democracy.
He added that despite positive changes that other people in the South Africa have seen since the end of apartheid and the subsequent transition to a democratic order in 1994, the KhoiSan community remains largely ignored.
Louw, however noted some positive remarks about the recently passed Traditional and KhoiSan Leadership Bill. The bill aims to recognise KhoiSan leadership structures that had previously not been provided for in the country’s laws. He believes that the bill will become a way in which the KhoiSan community can be recognised in official structures of government in South Africa and therefore result in their grievances being heard.
